Assessment of the transfer probability of black carbon from simulated forest fires of Russian boreal forest to arctic ice and their possible influence on climate

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Ginzburg ◽  
Anna Pastukhova ◽  
Anastasia Revokatova ◽  
Sergey Kostrykin ◽  
Vladimir Korotkov
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Arctic Ice ◽  
Transfer Probability

Brown Carbon and Black Carbon in the Smoky Atmosphere during Boreal Forest Fires

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 875-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. I. Gorchakov ◽  
A. V. Karpov ◽  
N. V. Pankratova ◽  
E. G. Semoutnikova ◽  
A. V. Vasiliev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Brown Carbon

Modelling emissions from Canadian wildfires: a case study of the 2002 Quebec fires

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 649 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lavoué ◽  
Sunling Gong ◽  
Brian J. Stocks
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Particulate Emissions ◽  
Emission Model ◽  
Fine Particulate

The present paper proposes an original approach to estimate gaseous and particulate emissions from boreal forest fires based on the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System. The FBP System permits calculation of fuel consumption and rate of spread for individual fires on an hourly basis from meteorological conditions and fuel patterns. Weather data are obtained by running the Canadian weather forecast model GEM (Global Environmental Multiscale). Hourly emission point sources can then be generated from a given wildfire database. The smoke emission model was first applied to the boreal forest fires in Quebec in the summer of 2002. Geographical distribution and temporal variability of emission amounts, as well as injection heights, were assessed hourly. In July, ~150 wildfires released 39 Mt of CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gases and 470 kt of fine particulate matter to the atmosphere. They contributed 32 and 5% of Quebec’s and Canada’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. Black carbon was estimated to account for 4% of the total fine particulate matter. Wildfires were responsible for 51 and 90% of all Canada’s black carbon and particulate organic matter sources, respectively.

scholarly journals Climate change and forest management affect forest fire risk in Fennoscandia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Large Fires ◽  
Forest Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Ignition

Forest and wildland fires are a natural part of ecosystems worldwide, but large fires in particular can cause societal, economic and ecological disruption. Fires are an important source of greenhouse gases and black carbon that can further amplify and accelerate climate change. In recent years, large forest fires in Sweden demonstrate that the issue should also be considered in other parts of Fennoscandia. This final report of the project “Forest fires in Fennoscandia under changing climate and forest cover (IBA ForestFires)” funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, synthesises current knowledge of the occurrence, monitoring, modelling and suppression of forest fires in Fennoscandia. The report also focuses on elaborating the role of forest fires as a source of black carbon (BC) emissions over the Arctic and discussing the importance of international collaboration in tackling forest fires. The report explains the factors regulating fire ignition, spread and intensity in Fennoscandian conditions. It highlights that the climate in Fennoscandia is characterised by large inter-annual variability, which is reflected in forest fire risk. Here, the majority of forest fires are caused by human activities such as careless handling of fire and ignitions related to forest harvesting. In addition to weather and climate, fuel characteristics in forests influence fire ignition, intensity and spread. In the report, long-term fire statistics are presented for Finland, Sweden and the Republic of Karelia. The statistics indicate that the amount of annually burnt forest has decreased in Fennoscandia. However, with the exception of recent large fires in Sweden, during the past 25 years the annually burnt area and number of fires have been fairly stable, which is mainly due to effective fire mitigation. Land surface models were used to investigate how climate change and forest management can influence forest fires in the future. The simulations were conducted using different regional climate models and greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Simulations, extending to 2100, indicate that forest fire risk is likely to increase over the coming decades. The report also highlights that globally, forest fires are a significant source of BC in the Arctic, having adverse health effects and further amplifying climate warming. However, simulations made using an atmospheric dispersion model indicate that the impact of forest fires in Fennoscandia on the environment and air quality is relatively minor and highly seasonal. Efficient forest fire mitigation requires the development of forest fire detection tools including satellites and drones, high spatial resolution modelling of fire risk and fire spreading that account for detailed terrain and weather information. Moreover, increasing the general preparedness and operational efficiency of firefighting is highly important. Forest fires are a large challenge requiring multidisciplinary research and close cooperation between the various administrative operators, e.g. rescue services, weather services, forest organisations and forest owners is required at both the national and international level.

scholarly journals Production of peroxy nitrates in boreal biomass burning plumes over Canada during the BORTAS campaign

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 3485-3497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcella Busilacchio ◽  
Piero Di Carlo ◽  
Eleonora Aruffo ◽  
Fabio Biancofiore ◽  
Cesare Dari Salisburgo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Chemical Mechanism ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Fire Plumes ◽  
Peroxy Nitrates ◽  
In Fire ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The observations collected during the BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites (BORTAS) campaign in summer 2011 over Canada are analysed to study the impact of forest fire emissions on the formation of ozone (O3) and total peroxy nitrates ∑PNs, ∑ROONO2). The suite of measurements on board the BAe-146 aircraft, deployed in this campaign, allows us to calculate the production of O3 and of  ∑PNs, a long-lived NOx reservoir whose concentration is supposed to be impacted by biomass burning emissions. In fire plumes, profiles of carbon monoxide (CO), which is a well-established tracer of pyrogenic emission, show concentration enhancements that are in strong correspondence with a significant increase of concentrations of ∑PNs, whereas minimal increase of the concentrations of O3 and NO2 is observed. The ∑PN and O3 productions have been calculated using the rate constants of the first- and second-order reactions of volatile organic compound (VOC) oxidation. The ∑PN and O3 productions have also been quantified by 0-D model simulation based on the Master Chemical Mechanism. Both methods show that in fire plumes the average production of ∑PNs and O3 are greater than in the background plumes, but the increase of ∑PN production is more pronounced than the O3 production. The average ∑PN production in fire plumes is from 7 to 12 times greater than in the background, whereas the average O3 production in fire plumes is from 2 to 5 times greater than in the background. These results suggest that, at least for boreal forest fires and for the measurements recorded during the BORTAS campaign, fire emissions impact both the oxidized NOy and O3,  but (1 ∑PN production is amplified significantly more than O3 production and (2) in the forest fire plumes the ratio between the O3 production and the ∑PN production is lower than the ratio evaluated in the background air masses, thus confirming that the role played by the ∑PNs produced during biomass burning is significant in the O3 budget. The implication of these observations is that fire emissions in some cases, for example boreal forest fires and in the conditions reported here, may influence more long-lived precursors of O3 than short-lived pollutants, which in turn can be transported and eventually diluted in a wide area.

scholarly journals Spatial Distribution of Atmospheric Aerosol Physicochemical Characteristics in the Russian Sector of the Arctic Ocean

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1170
Author(s):  
Sergey Sakerin ◽  
Dmitry Kabanov ◽  
Valery Makarov ◽  
Viktor Pol’kin ◽  
Svetlana Popova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

The results from studies of aerosol in the Arctic atmosphere are presented: the aerosol optical depth (AOD), the concentrations of aerosol and black carbon, as well as the chemical composition of the aerosol. The average aerosol characteristics, measured during nine expeditions (2007–2018) in the Eurasian sector of the Arctic Ocean, had been 0.068 for AOD (0.5 µm); 2.95 cm−3 for particle number concentrations; 32.1 ng/m3 for black carbon mass concentrations. Approximately two–fold decrease of the average characteristics in the eastern direction (from the Barents Sea to Chukchi Sea) is revealed in aerosol spatial distribution. The average aerosol characteristics over the Barents Sea decrease in the northern direction: black carbon concentrations by a factor of 1.5; particle concentrations by a factor of 3.7. These features of the spatial distribution are caused mainly by changes in the content of fine aerosol, namely: by outflows of smokes from forest fires and anthropogenic aerosol. We considered separately the measurements of aerosol characteristics during two expeditions in 2019: in the north of the Barents Sea (April) and along the Northern Sea Route (July–September). In the second expedition the average aerosol characteristics turned out to be larger than multiyear values: AOD reached 0.36, particle concentration up to 8.6 cm−3, and black carbon concentration up to 179 ng/m3. The increased aerosol content was affected by frequent outflows of smoke from forest fires. The main (99%) contribution to the elemental composition of aerosol in the study regions was due to Ca, K, Fe, Zn, Br, Ni, Cu, Mn, and Sr. The spatial distribution of the chemical composition of aerosols was analogous to that of microphysical characteristics. The lowest concentrations of organic and elemental carbon (OC, EC) and of most elements are observed in April in the north of the Barents Sea, and the maximal concentrations in Far East seas and in the south of the Barents Sea. The average contents of carbon in aerosol over seas of the Asian sector of the Arctic Ocean are OC = 629 ng/m3, EC = 47 ng/m3.

scholarly journals Satellite detection of a continental-scale plume of nitrogen oxides from boreal forest fires

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (24) ◽  
pp. 4579-4582 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Spichtinger ◽  
M. Wenig ◽  
P. James ◽  
T. Wagner ◽  
U. Platt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Oxides ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Continental Scale

SPOT VEGETATION for characterizing boreal forest fires

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 3525-3532 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.H. Fraser ◽  
Z. Li ◽  
R. Landry
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fires

Trace gas emissions from chaparral and boreal forest fires

1989 ◽  
Vol 94 (D2) ◽  
pp. 2255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley R. Cofer ◽  
Joel S. Levine ◽  
Daniel I. Sebacher ◽  
Edward L. Winstead ◽  
Philip J. Riggan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Trace Gas ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Trace Gas Emissions

scholarly journals Sources of long-lived atmospheric VOCs at the rural boreal forest site, SMEAR II

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (23) ◽  
pp. 13413-13432 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Patokoski ◽  
T. M. Ruuskanen ◽  
M. K. Kajos ◽  
R. Taipale ◽  
P. Rantala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Proton Transfer Reaction ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Source Areas ◽  
Mixing Ratios

Abstract. In this study a long-term volatile organic compound (VOCs) concentration data set, measured at the SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem–Atmosphere Relations) boreal forest site in Hyytiälä, Finland during the years 2006–2011, was analyzed in order to identify source areas and profiles of the observed VOCs. VOC mixing ratios were measured using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry. Four-day HYSPLIT 4 (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) backward trajectories and the Unmix 6.0 receptor model were used for source area and source composition analysis. Two major forest fire events in Russia took place during the measurement period. The effect of these fires was clearly visible in the trajectory analysis, lending confidence to the method employed with this data set. Elevated volume mixing ratios (VMRs) of non-biogenic VOCs related to forest fires, e.g. acetonitrile and aromatic VOCs, were observed. Ten major source areas for long-lived VOCs (methanol, acetonitrile, acetaldehyde, acetone, benzene, and toluene) observed at the SMEAR II site were identified. The main source areas for all the targeted VOCs were western Russia, northern Poland, Kaliningrad, and the Baltic countries. Industrial areas in northern continental Europe were also found to be source areas for certain VOCs. Both trajectory and receptor analysis showed that air masses from northern Fennoscandia were less polluted with respect to both the VOCs studied and other trace gases (CO, SO2 and NOx), compared to areas of eastern and western continental Europe, western Russia, and southern Fennoscandia.

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